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Kuni
Kuni is a character from the Ōkami series of action adventure games. He is the human protagonist in Ōkamiden, the main partner of Chibiterasu and the adopted son of Susano and Kushi. Profile Personality Kuni has vigilance, but his cowardice personality always drags him away from his goal of becoming a great warrior. Appearance and Development When Kuni's character was created by Kuniomi Matsushita, the director of Ōkamiden, he based his design around the fact that Kuni was Susano and Kushi's son and a rambunctious kid but cowardly at heart. Kuni's final design was based on these ideas. One of Kuni's early designs had very different components all based on different parts of his background and personality. The design had Kuni using a simple twig as a sword, which was inspired by Susano's wooden sword and was supposed to seem like a younger version of the sword. Matsushita also fixed his hair with Kushi's large comb. This design was well received by the game's makers and made it through to model production; it was eventually animated. It wasn't until the creators watched Kuni riding on Chibiterasu's back on a Nintendo DS screen that they realized the design did not work. According to Matsushita, there were multiple reasons why the design did not work: one reason was the number of different features on the character model caused it to appear too "mixter-maxter" from behind; people could not recognize him well because of his hairdo when the camera was about to look down on him from above. Matsushita considered altering different aspects of the game such as the camera movement, so that they could keep Kuni's old design. In the end, he decided the model had to be changed and, according to Matsushita, went as far as bowing down and begging Kuni's designers to redesign him. Kuni's final model ended up being a small boy who always carries his wooden sword on his back. He wears a one piece purple outfit which has a huge tear down the middle. He has a small red round nose, and small round eyebrows. He also has a bruise on one of his cheeks. His hair is tied into buns on each side of the back of his head which are styled to look like Chibiterasu's winglets. Abilities Like Susano, Kuni learn some of his sword techniques based on slashing and bashing enemies or other objects. If his slash is to be combined with Chibiterasu's Power Slash, then it can destroy even rocks imbued with magic seals. If Kuni is left on the ground, he would shiver in fear to be alone. But he can still protect himself from upcoming enemies. But he's still susceptible to ranged or magical attacks. When Chibiterasu finishes a combo hits, Kuni will jump, spins in mid-air and vertical slash them with his sword. If his attacks ends the target's life, it cannot be finished with a purification, since Kuni's attack has already destroyed its body. After he attack and lands on the ground, he will spin in mid air back onto Chibiterasu's back. Story Kuni is Chibterasu's first partner in Ōkamiden. He is the adopted son of Susano and Kushi. Kuni first meets Chibiterasu when he notices a girl crying near the river in Kamiki Village, thinking that Chibiterasu was bothering her. After the girl explains how the mirror that belonged to her mother was stolen by demons, Kuni promises to get her mirror back, despite his fear of demons. He and Chibiterasu team up to travel to Hana Valley where the mirror was taken. After traveling through the area, Kuni and Chibiterasu confront Master Anura, who has taken Hana Valley over. After Master Anura explains that only a descendant of Nagi can defeat him, Kuni is struck with fear and exclaims that he is not really the son of Susano, meaning he is not a descendant of Nagi, and runs away from the massive toad, leaving Chibiterasu to fight Master Anura alone. However, after Chibiterasu manages to make Master Anura spit up a fruit from the Guardian Sapling of Hana Valley, Kuni returns and apologizes to Chibiterasu for running away. The two team up to defeat Master Anura and they both retrieve the mirror. In Agata Forest, after meeting Chibiterasu's second partner, Nanami, Kuni is suddenly swallowed by a giant fish named Bullhead. After Chibiterasu and Nanami defeats Bullhead, Kuni is swept away by the waves, and is being pushed on a log. In order to save his friend, he slams Chibiterasu's face to send him to the island, while he goes down with the log. When Chibiterasu and Kurow go back into the past 9 months before the events of Ōkamiden, they see Susano before the pathway to the Moon Cave, chickening out. It is then revealed that Kuni is not the descendant of Susano because they find Kuni floating in the sea. It is later revealed that the main antagonist, Akuro, has captured Kuni and used him as a vessel to fully gain his powers. Kuni was unaware that Akuro had possessed him the entire time he was with Chibiterasu and was using him to kill the demons who turned on Akuro. Chibiterasu soon saves Kuni from Akuro's possession, and then helped the pup kill Akuro once and for all. After Kurow takes Akuro into his body in order to vanquish him, Kuni is given a more miniature version of Nagi's armor and a miniature version of Tsukuyomi. He then performs a downward slash with Chibiterasu and they destroy Akuro, killing Kurow in the process. In the ending, Kuni tells Susano and Kushi that he is leaving in order to find out who he really is. He leaves even after Susano's protests and leaves Chibiterasu, telling him that he needs to perfrom this task by himself. It is soon revealed to the player that an adult Kuni was narrating the story of Ōkamiden (also mentioning that he meets Chibiterasu again, having "many more adventures" with him). Trivia *English translations of concept art from Ōkami had Kuni's name as Nushi, both this and his final name, Kuni, come from his Japanese name, Kuninushi, which is a reference to the Shinto deity Ōkuninushi (「大国主」?; great land master). **"Kuni" (「国」?) itself also means "land" or "country". *Kuni's hairstyle is somewhat based from the Ōkuninushi statues which often known. A notable one can be seen in Izumo-taisha. *Kuni appears to believe in the gods as he can see Chibiterasu's red markings from the start. *If Chibiterasu doesn't move for ten seconds (outside of battle) and Kuni is riding him, Kuni will stand on one foot atop of Chibi's head trying to balance his stance. *Like most characters, Kuni gives Chibiterasu a name different from his own. From the moment Kuni meets Chibiterasu, he calls him "Mutt", even after hearing Sakuya referring to him as Chibiterasu. *The narrator that recaps the events at the beginning of the game and closes the story is Kuni as an adult. *The attire of Kuni when he was found by Susano is similar to that worn by those in Kamiki Village, 100 years before the events of Ōkami. *There are a couple of unexplained details in Ōkamiden regarding Kuni, such as "only those with the proper lineage can touch the fruit of the Guardian Sapling", yet Kuni was able to do so and he was also able to draw power from Nagi's armor. The reasons for both are unknown. *According to his comment upon having to fight Yellow Imps at the Demon market during the tournament there, Kuni revealed that he had a personal dislike for demons who utilize aerial combat. Whether this quote is directed to airborne demons in general or to the Yellow Imps themselves is unknown. Gallery Image:Kuni_Victory_Pose.png|Looking victorious Image:Kuni_Injured.png|The worse for wear Image:Kuni_and_Chibiterasu.png|Astride Chibiterasu Image:Okamiden Chibiterasu and Kuni.png|Astride Chibiterasu (Alt) Image:Kuni_and_Chibiterasu_Alt.png|Astride Chibiterasu (Alt) Image:Kuni_Concept.png|Concept art Category:Characters Category:Okami Characters Category:Heroes Category:Male Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Support Characters